Doku
by Dirt Road Darlin
Summary: Rogue sat quietly as images of the events that had taken place just a day before ran through her thoughts, though she tried desperately to forget them. To forget him.
1. Chapter 1

Fanfic: Xmen - Doku (Wolverine/Rogue) - Complete

Complete, Dandelions, Fanfic, Fic, Logan, Love, Marie, Multi-Chapter, Rogan, Rogue, Sentimental, Wolverine, Xmen

Rating: T (Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes).

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**SUMMARY:**  
Rogue sat quietly as images of the events that had taken place just a day before ran through her thoughts, though she tried desperately to forget them. To forget him.

**STORY NOTES:**  
Originally written on Apr 7, 2011

A little off the beaten path, but it was something that was rambling around in my head. I hope you like it.

This was originally just a "one-shot", but some people weren't happy with how it ended, so they asked for a second chapter. And I, ever the people pleaser (haha), caved. lol

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**- - : ~ * ~ : - -** will appear before and after any flashbacks.  
All flashbacks and/or inner thoughts are in _italics_.

**DISCLAIMER:**  
This fanfic has been written purely for entertainment value, with no money being made from this work. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners with no copyright infringement intended. The original characters/places/plot/etc. are the sole property of the author. Thank you.

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… **DOKU …**

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Rogue sat quietly, with legs crossed, on the black leather sofa in the far corner of the small establishment. Images of the events that had taken place just a day before ran through her thoughts, though she tried desperately to forget them. To forget him.

Page by page, she sifted through a photo album, taking in the images on display behind the clear plastic sleeves. The rest of the albums, all bound in matching black leather, lay in a fan across the long white coffee table before her. In the background, she heard the steady sound of buzzing, swallowed by the louder sound of some "death metal band" that had been playing on loop since the minute she'd arrived. Apparently, the man behind the graphic covered, metal door had a thing for this particular band, though she had yet to figure out a single word they had said. But, who was she to judge?

Across from her, a red head no more than 18, chewed nervously on her bottom lip as, she too, scanned an album.

"Lindsay," the girl screeched, looking to the bleach blonde that sat beside her. "Look at that!"

"Eddie's Eats," the blonde said aloud as she pointed at the picture.

Rogue knew what they were talking about since she'd looked at the album not long before them. The photo in question was a picture of a woman's very private area on display with the words "Eddie's Eats" tattooed above it.

"But, what happens if they break up?" the red head asked, genuine concern for the woman shining in her eyes.

"I don't know, Brit! I guess she'd have to get a new boyfriend with the same name?"

Rogue couldn't help herself. She looked up from her album and smiled. "Oh don't worry, sugar. She'll just come back and have a big ol' X marked through the name and have "Under New Management" tattooed above it."

Both women looked at Rogue oddly and then smiled. "Oooooooh. Well good," the blonde finally commented.

Rogue bit her bottom lip, as she tried not laugh, before letting her attention go back to the pages before her. She really shouldn't have been so snarky, but she couldn't help herself.

"Miss?"

Rogue looked up to see a small, busty brunette standing next to her. "I'm Kim. Did you get your paperwork filled out?"

"Sure did," Rogue told her as she handed over the items in question.

"Okay then," Kim told her as she offered Rogue a friendly smile. "Come with me."

Rogue nodded and proceeded to follow the young lady to the opposite corner of the room, where she sat down in front of a large black lacquer desk.

Kim took her spot back behind the desk and began reading over Rogue's information. "It all looks to be in order," she told her, never looking up from the stark white pages before her. "I just need to see your I.D. or driver's license."

Smiling politely, Rogue dug into the back of her favorite blue jeans and pulled out her card. Silently, she thanked Logan for the tip he'd given her of _"always have cash, fake I.D.'s and aliases, kid. Ya never know when they might come in handy."_

"There ya go," she said sweetly as she handed Kim the small laminated card.

With a skeptical eye, Kim made sure that the picture on the identification card matched Rogue, before she began writing down the necessary information. When she was through, she quickly filed the papers away inside a desk drawer and then delved into another drawer for a new set of papers.

Handing Rogue the papers and I.D., Kim again smiled sweetly. "This is your aftercare instructions. Please make sure you read them and follow them to the letter."

"I will," Rogue told her as she folded the papers and stuffed them, along with her I.D., into her back pocket.

"Alrighty then. Just take a seat and he'll be with you as soon as he can."

"Thanks," Rogue offered up, wasting no time in returning to the couch to once again rummage through the photos.

Moments later, a very muscular man exited from behind the metal door, a saran wrap looking material taped to his left bicep.

"You're done?" Lindsay asked as she walked to the man that Rogue now assumed was her boyfriend.

"Yeah, babe. How ya like it?" he asked as he let his girlfriend peek at the freshly inked bulldog that now decorated his overly tan body.

"I love it, Louie!" Lindsay confessed. "Makes you look all manly!"

"Hell yeah!" he said smugly.

"Make sure you follow the aftercare instructions, fella," the middle aged, dark-haired man said before disappearing back inside the room he'd just emerged from.

"Sure thing, man!" Louie yelled as he threw an arm across his girl's shoulders.

Rogue smiled as she watched the couple and the tagalong head out the door, suddenly envying the carefree spirit they had. They weren't jaded yet. That was a good thing.

A good thirty minutes later, Rogue watched the tattoo artist, once again, appear from behind that graphic-covered door. "Anna Laughlin?" he asked as he stared in Rogue's direction.

"That's me," she told him, placing the album back on the coffee table before standing to meet him.

With an outstretched hand, he smiled. "I'm Jack."

Rogue extended her gloved hand and shook his tentatively. "Nice to meet you, Jack."

"You fill out your paperwork?"

"Yeah," she told him as she pointed to Kim. "She has it."

Jack looked over at the brunette who quickly gave him a nod to let him know that he had the 'okay' to proceed. "Well then, come on in."

Rogue quickly followed and sat down in the chair offered once inside the room.

"So, are you going with flash or something original?"

"Well, I… it's neither and both, actually."

Looking at her curiously, Rogue decided to elaborate, handing him a paper. "I had it drawn up earlier today."

"Okay," he told her simply as his eyes took in the image. It was a Japanese symbol, though some in the tattoo world would call it Kanji. Large, black brush strokes covered the page, hand drawn, not just printed out from the Internet.

"Where you want it at?" he asked, as he placed the paper on the counter.

Cautiously, Rogue slipped the gloves off her small hands and pointed to her wrist. "Here," she told him. "I want one on each wrist."

"So, I'm assuming you did your homework to make sure this is the word you want? That no one screwed you over with the meaning. Right?"

"Right," she said proudly. "I'm not a fool. I did my research."

"You want it to look just like the paper?"

"Yes. Can you do it?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?" she asked with suspicion. "Because I want it to look just like that. Like someone took a brush to my skin instead of a needle. If ya can't…"

"I can do it," Jack interrupted, suddenly letting his cockiness come to the forefront. "I'm the best there is at this, baby."

"Don't call me that," she warned, and he could tell she meant business.

"Sorry. It'll take me a minute to get this drawn up, so just make yourself at home."

Rogue nodded in response as Jack left the room, taking her paper with him. Not long after, he returned with two mirror images of the symbol she'd brought in.

"Okay, let's get these in position." Reaching for her, Jack was surprised a bit when Rogue jerked her hand away before he could touch her. "Change your mind?"

Shaking her head she whispered, "Sorry. Um… you… you can't touch me without your gloves on."

"Oooh," he said knowingly. "You're one of those."

"One of _what_?" Rogue asked defensively.

"Germaphobe," Jack revealed.

With a sigh of relief, Marie gave a faint smile. "Somethin' like that."

Nodding, he slipped the black latex gloves onto his hands before attempting to touch her again.

Putting the transfer against her skin, he asked if she was happy with the placement. When she nodded, Jack set up the inks to be used along with following all the sterilization procedures, making sure Rogue knew she was in a clean and hygienic environment.

"You ready?" he asked as he scooted his chair next to her, tattoo gun ready to mark her pale flesh with the design of her choice.

"I'm ready."

"Okay then… here we go."

With obvious skill, Jack began outlining the desired design onto the small wrist of the woman in front of him. "What's it say anyway?" he asked curiously.

Rogue gave no answer, though Jack watched, as brown eyes suddenly seemed to shine with a sadness that made even an old brute like him feel a bit of melancholy.

"O-kay," he whispered, dropping his head down and going to work on her tattoo.

Still, Rogue continued to have that far off look in her eyes…

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_"Happy Birthday, kid."_

_"Logan, I'm twenty three. I don't think I qualify as a kid."_

_"Yeah, I guess you're right," he admitted, with a shrug._

_"Where's my present?" Rogue asked mischievously as she poked his shoulder._

_"I think I forgot it," he teased._

_"Liar!" she accused, noticing that the scruffy man before her was definitely hiding something behind his back._

_"I don't lie!" Logan defended, pretending to be insulted by her claim._

_"Yeah? Since when?" Rogue countered, lunging at him, in an attempt to see what he was trying to hide._

_"Hey!" Logan yelled out as he lost his footing, wrapping an arm around Rogue's waist as they fell to the floor._

_After taking a second to catch his breath, Logan furrowed his brow. "You cheat."_

_"All's fair in love and war, remember?"_

_"I remember…" he told her with a smile._

_Suddenly, the world around her disappeared as Rogue stared down into hazel eyes. Without warning, she felt Logan's hand in her hair, moving the whitened locks away from her face as he stared at her intently._

_Her body pressed closely to his, Rogue's face was mere inches from Logan's. Chocolate eyes darkened as she sucked in a breath, wanting nothing more than to feel the touch of his lips on hers._

_"Marie," he whispered hoarsely._

_She knew she should move away, his voice was warning her of that very thing. But, for one brief moment, Rogue forgot about her mutation. She forgot how much damage she could do, that she was like a poison that harmed anything it touched. She forgot… and she kissed him._

_Soft, pouty lips crashed against Logan's as Marie closed her eyes. It was the most glorious feeling she'd ever had. But seconds later, that familiar pull came, and Rogue jerked away with tear filled eyes. In horror, she watched, as Logan lay silent, eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to catch his breath._

_"I'm sorry," she cried as he slowly began to recover from her deadly touch. "I'm so sorry."_

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"Poison," she whispered, tears in her eyes that she quickly wiped away with her free hand.

"What?" Jack asked, seeming to have already forgotten his inquiry.

"The tattoo," Rogue reminded him, her voice low and edged with pain. "It says poison."

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	2. Chapter 2

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… **CHAPTER TWO …**

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Logan sat quietly in the darkened room, his body tensing at every sound as he waited for the return of his southern spitfire. For most of the day he'd been holed up in her room, his mind and heart at odds with each other as he tried to understand the events that had occurred the day before.

Marie had kissed him.

He could barely wrap his head around the knowledge. All he'd wanted to do was celebrate her birthday. It seemed simple enough. But, that's not how it turned out. One minute he was teasing her about her present, the next they were laughing on the floor. A second after that his hand was in her hair as her lips were pressed against his and damn, if he hadn't wanted more. But then, then the pull came… and the pain.

Sure, he'd recovered quick enough, but the damage had been done. A crying Marie had left him lying on the floor of her room and had taken off at the first possible chance. That had been close to 24 hours ago. But, Logan knew she'd return. So he waited… and waited… and waited some more. But, that was okay, because he'd wait forever if he had to. _And, if she didn't return?_ Well then, he'd just have to hunt her down.

An hour later, when Logan had just about reached the end of his rope (and patience), he heard the twisting of the doorknob. Making no attempt to move from his chair, he chose instead to continue to sit in silence until she closed the door and turned on a lamp.

"We need to talk," he said calmly, though he wanted nothing more than to shake her and ask where the hell she'd been.

Rogue jumped the minute she'd heard his voice. Composing herself quickly, she slipped into her sweetest southern belle persona and smiled. "Logan, ya gave me a fright."

"Don't," he warned, finally rising from the chair and meeting her in the middle of the small room.

"Don't what?"

"Don't act like nothing's happened."

Immediately she looked away, staring a hole in the floor. "Nothing has happened," she said softly.

"Really?" Logan crossed his arms as he tried to keep the anger at bay. "I sure thought somethin' did."

"Ooooh right. How could I forget? I almost killed ya."

"Don't exaggerate," he told her as he rolled his eyes.

Glaring brown eyes suddenly met his. "Exaggerate?" she asked, anger evident in her tone. "I'm not exaggerating!"

"Yeah, you are."

Again, she glared at him. "You're an ass, ya know that?"

"Been called worse," he grumbled, never taking his eyes off hers. "And we still need to talk about what happened."

"Didn't we just do that?" Rogue asked, feigning ignorance. "Not that!" Logan said through gritted teeth. "We need to talk… about the other thing."

"There's nothing left to say," Marie said shortly as she brought a hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh really? I think there's a lot to say!" he yelled back. "We need to talk about the… what the HELL is that?"

Marie stiffened at the question, her eyes taking notice of the direction of his stare. Refusing to cower away, Marie instead chose to provoke Logan. "What's it look like?"

"It looks like some black shit, hiding out under Saran Wrap, on your wrist."

"It's called a tattoo, sugar."

"You didn't!"

"I did!"

"Marie, I'm telling you right now, that shit better wash off!" The warning in his voice was clear as Logan walked to her, grabbing her gloved hand to inspect one freshly inked wrist.

"Hate to tell ya, but it's not coming off."

"You better be jokin', kid," Logan warned.

Brown eyes stared up at him, defiance shining brightly. "Or what?"

"Or?" Logan repeated, accepting the challenge she'd unwittingly offered him. "This!"

Before Rogue could react, Logan snatched the covering off her tattoo, and quickly wrapped his hand around her now bare skin. When the pull came seconds later, she tried desperately to free herself from his firm grip, but to no avail. In horror, Rogue watched as the wounds on her wrists began to heal, pushing the black ink that was under the skin to the surface, dripping off her wrists and erasing the images that had been put there just an hour before. The "poison" was gone.

"Damn you!" Rogue yelled as Logan released his grip and fell to his knees. "Damn you to hell!"

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**… 35 MINUTES LATER …**  
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Logan moved slowly from the floor and glanced at Marie who sat in the corner chair he had occupied for most of the day. With arms crossed, she glared at him.

"You didn't even try to get help?"

"Nope," she said shortly as she continued to chew on her bottom lip.

Taking a seat on the bed, Logan took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Ya think?" Rogue yelled as she stood, coming to stand in front of him, hands firmly in place on her hips. "You owe me 150 bucks!"

"150?!"

"Yeah, you heard me!"

"You shouldn't have gotten it in the first place!" Logan growled, standing now, glaring down at her.

"_Them_, Logan!" Rogue corrected. "There were two! And, you don't get a say in what I do or don't do!"

Moving to the door, Rogue pointed at it. "Get out."

"Marie," he whispered, coming to stand in front of her.

"GET. OUT!"

"Dammit, Marie!" Logan yelled as he backed her against the door, staring at her intently for what seemed like forever, neither willing to move from the trance they seemed to be in.

Finally, Logan let out a breath. "Why?" he asked softly, as anger faded from hazel eyes and now begged for understanding.

And the battle was lost. Rogue could handle anger, but tenderness… that was something all together different. "Because I wanted one."

"The real reason?" he asked, his eyes suddenly moving lower to focus on her pursed lips.

"I wanted a reminder, is all."

"Yeah? What kind of reminder?"

"You read Japanese. You know what it said."

Logan sighed as he closed his eyes. "Poison," he whispered, his voice low and Rogue heard the sadness in it. "Is this because of what happened last night?"

"No!" Marie denied as she tried to move away, only to have Logan block her by pressing a large hand to the door on either side of her.

Knowing there was nowhere she could run that Logan wouldn't follow, she accepted her defeat. "It has nothin' to do with _that_."

"Bullshit."

"Whatever," she mumbled. "It's what I am, Logan. It's what I was at 16. It's what I am now and what I'll be tomorrow."

"Stop," he ordered.

"It's the truth. I kissed you and for the third time, I hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me."

"Bullshit," she mocked, throwing his own word back in his face.

"Fine," he admitted. "It stung a little. But, I recovered."

"Well, that just makes it all better, doesn't it?" Her hand pushed at his chest as she dropped her head back against the door.

"You are not poison," Logan told her, moving closer to her, leaving barely an inch between their bodies.

"I am."

"Marie," he whispered, one hand moving to caress her neck through her long, chestnut hair. "You're not poison."

Her voice was low, filled with anguish as her eyes filled with tears. "I want to believe you..."

"Then do it," he told her, his words raspy as he tried not to think of the closeness he now shared with the woman before him. "Because it's the truth."

"Make me believe it, Logan," Rogue begged, one tiny hand moving slowly against his chest. "Make me believe I'm not poison."

Lifting her off the floor, Logan held Rogue as she wrapped two long legs around his waist. Seconds later, both stood fully clothed in the middle of the shower, water pouring down around them.

Wasting no time, Logan claimed Rogue's lips with his own, reveling in the feel of her skin on his, without the pull from the day before. Hands were everywhere as the kiss continued, eagerly exploring what had been forbidden just seconds before.

Finally, when air was needed, Logan pulled away, both breathless as Rogue stared up at him.

"How?" she questioned, her mind trying desperately to understand what had just happened.

"It's the water, darlin'. It acts as a barrier. And, it's not the only way either. There's scarves and body suits and…" Logan smiled as he noticed the shocked look on Marie's face. "What? You don't think I've thought about this? About you… and me?"

"I didn't know," Rogue whispered. "I thought you didn't…"

"Well, I do," he assured her as he let his hand caress her bare, wet cheek.

Moving to press against her, Logan dipped his head to feast on her neck as Rogue buried her hands in his thick, wet hair. "Logan…"

"Hmm?"

"You still owe me $150.00."

Jerking his head up to look down at her, Logan couldn't help but laugh. "Whatever you say, darlin'," he mumbled before he once again buried his head in her hair. "Whatever you say."

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… **THE END …**

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